Chocolate cigar and bubble gum that mimicked chewing tobacco were some of the best and more free ways we get to profess to be cool as kid ( I ’m kidding , stay off drugs , guys ! ) . So here to assist you reminisce about your glorious preadolescent years are 12 lesser - known facts about the baseball - inspired jaw gum , Big League Chew . Dip into a pack and pawn up the nostalgia .
1. It’s partially responsible for breaking a Guinness World Record
Back in 2014 , 721 people came together at theCal Ripken Babe Ruth League World Seriesand blew some very coordinated bubbles to win the world phonograph record for Most masses burn out Bubble Gum Simultaneously . The previous title achieved with 544 mass was set June 6th , 2013 by the Lester B. Pearson School in Aurora , Ontario , Canada . Yes , we shell the Canadians !
2. A real-life ball player invented the stuff
animate by the game he bang and the players around him , Portland Mavericks formal actor Rob Nelson first came up with the idea for Big League Chew in the summer of 1977 . Almost 40 year by and by , Nelson continues to stand behind his creation and maintain full right and creative control over the product . And you better reckon that come Halloween , his room access is the good one to knock on .
3. It wasn’t always pink!
Nelson first developed root beer- and maple excerpt - flavored Big League Chew so that it would be brown and genuinely mime its inspiration , chewing tobacco plant . " I really want it to be the fun choice to chewing tobacco , " Nelson shared with us . Wrigley loved his lurch but told him to stick to even pinkish bubblegum because itdidn’t want to be seen as condone tobacco .
4. It’s Bubble Tape’s cousin
Ron Ream , the chemist and VP of marketing and corporate development for Amurol Products , a division of Wrigley ’s , between 1979 - 2004 , devise the technology behind both bubble gingiva . Today he is the owner ofMyBigLeagueChew.com , a site where you’re able to go and custom ordering your very own plurality of Big League Chew with your name on it . Ream also recently produced amilitary - geared gumthat is aimed to pack in enough caffein to keep our troops go . Now that ’s some powerful gum !
5. There have been some experimental flavors over the years
Like Cherry Sparks , which was cherry tree with smash Life Savers . But for the most part , Big League Chew sticks to the flavour it loves and knows best : Outta ' Here Original ( your regular house of cards gum tree flavor and the party ’s most popular feel ) and grape , which owner Rob Nelson says taste like cabernet franc . At the moment it also features watermelon vine and sour orchard apple tree .
6. Utah loves shredded bubble gum
It ’s more popular there than any other res publica . Why ? Your guess is as effective as ours . Apparently there are a smattering of small - league baseball game team there . Mormons fuck chewing gum in a sack ?
7. The company crushed in its first year
It was 1980 , it did $ 18 million in sales . The following year in 1981 , the Wrigley family , the original manufacturers of Big League Chew , sell the Cubs for $ 22 million . Rob Nelson remembers calling his dad and saying , " Dad ! The Wrigley family just replaced the Chicago Cubs with Big League Chew ! " To date Big League Chew has sold over 800 million packages worldwide and counting .
8. The first batch was made in a 15-year-old’s kitchen
Todd Field first attended Nelson ’s baseball game pack in Portland and before long after became the Mavericks ' batboy . Nelson did n’t have a kitchen of his own , so he employed Field ’s kitchen to test out his concept . Nelson also happened to be dating Field ’s old sister at the prison term . Todd Field has since extend on to become an player and three - time Academy Award - constitute filmmaker . jaw on that .
9. It’s homegrown
After a detour to Mexico thanks to Wrigley ’s , Big League Chew is once again made in the USA . As of 2010 , Ford Gum & Machine Co. proudly shreds and pack Big League Chew in Akron , New York . It uses the same machines that were used to make the gum over 35 years ago , so each chew is just like the first .
10. A “Shaq”-sized pouch was created for, um… Shaq
It was YUUUUGGEE . This jumbo - sized pocket at 24 " x 18 " was tradition made for Shaquille O’Neal and was over 15 times the size of a regular Big League Chew pocket . Somehow , though , when he holds the pouch up , it seems like just the correct fit .
11. Action Bronson is a big fan
Rapper / chef Bronson make the song last class for his web show , “ F**k , That ’s Delicious , " where he gets to travel and dabble a turn in the kitchen . Some of the featured lyric include , " I get the whole pack of Big League Chew by the cheekbone … “Listen to it properly now !
12. It’s in the Baseball Hall of Fame
Informally inducted in November of this past year as part of theWhole New Ballgameexhibit , Big League Chew proudly sits on showing , featured under the baseball game publicizing section . The newfangled display covers baseball game account from the 1970s onwards . Be sure to check it out during your next slip to Cooperstown .
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Big League Chew
Big League Chew
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